My first shellacking!!

[LittleWatchShop]

Got this practice watch identical to another watch I was doing for a friend.  Wanted a backup plan!!

Anyway, when cleaning I discovered the pallet jewels were loose and the shellac was dissolved in one-dip.

So...time to learn a new skill.  Fortunately, I anticipated this many months ago and bought a lifetime supply of shellac!!  More like ten lifetimes.

Here in these pictures are the results.  I hope I did it right.  Was careful to pay attention to location and orientation, but, hey...coulda got it wrong.

[LittleWatchShop]

Shellac was too thick.  Had to heat up and flatten.  Now I am troubleshooting the escapement.  Right now I think I have an issue with the top balance jewel.  It will have to wait until tomorrow.

[oldhippy]

That is way to much, you only need a tiny amount. You know what they say practice makes perfect 

[nickelsilver]

Heat a piece of shellac in the flame until it just melts (don't burn it), and poke a sharpened piece of pegwood in the gooey shellac and pull away. You'll end up with a long fine thread of shellac on the pegwood, which you can shorten to a usable length by breaking off the excess. Now you have an applicator that makes it very easy to apply just the right amount.

[LittleWatchShop]

I think the jewels are recessed too far.  I get no amplitude.  Must study this issue further!

[nickelsilver]

8 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I think the jewels are recessed too far.  I get no amplitude.  Must study this issue further!

Just from the look of the fork they appear to be far too "out", the gap between the rear of the pallet jewel and rear of the fork slot is generally quite small. But you will only know if you check the function of the escapement.

[JinTie]

 

24 分钟前，镍银 说道：

在加热木胶中，直到它刚刚喷出的距离（不要点燃），然后粘在粘稠的虫胶中拔出拔出。的虫胶线，你通过它的线将它的长度延长。

You're right, that's what I did.

Edited February 9, 2022 by JinTie

[LittleWatchShop]

OK, I will cleanup the overdose of shellac.  Meanwhile, here is a slo-mo video of the escapement.  Fun stuff!!!

[spectre6000]

Remember: shellac dissolves in alcohol. You can ease up to your desired level of clean with an alcohol soaked Q-tip or similar.

I've noodled on whether or not it might be possible to do the reverse as well: rather than melt the shellac and glob it on, dissolve it and brush it on in thick coats sort of. I mentioned in another thread recently that I also dabble in luthiery/fine woodworking, and French polish is one of my go to finishes. A French polish is mostly a technique, but the material aspect is just shellac dissolved in ethanol, and the terminology is "X# cut", i.e. 2# cut which is 2 pounds of shellac flakes to a gallon of ethanol or something along those lines. It doesn't keep, so a gallon is way too much for my purposes, hence the fuzziness on the specifics. It's definitely more art than science, so you get quite a bit of wiggle room. The Brits probably have a name for things of the sort, and it probably rhymes cognitively with "that'll do". Anyway, my thought was that it might be possible to make up a really heavy cut, and brush it on, or maybe use a small dropper/pipette (utilizing capillary action rather than an actual drop). You'd get better penetration into the joint via capillary action (assuming it's not too viscous), while adding almost no mass or mess. It might take a few applications to get where you want, and you'd be wasting the majority of your shellac/hooch, but as LWS discovered, shellac is dirt cheap on the scale we're talking here. The booze is a bit more pricey, but shellac is totally non-toxic and edible (it's often used to coat apples to keep them shiny and marketable), so....

[LittleWatchShop]

The horse left the barn.  One pallet took flight to worlds unknown.  I thought my Dad had left me an assortment of these, but as yet I cannot find them.  That's OK...this is a great learning experience!!  And...this was essentially a junker.

[LittleWatchShop]

This is a case where "shellacking" takes on is colloquial meaning.

[LittleWatchShop]

I am gonna order an assortment of pallet stones and see where that goes. It is a cheap movement...I think I paid maybe $15 for it, but it is important for me to see this through!!!  We shall see...

[LittleWatchShop]

On 2/9/2022 at 10:54 AM, LittleWatchShop said:

The horse left the barn. 

And decided that "there is no place like home."

After stepping away from this for a few days, I put my loop on and scanned my skin drawer using methodical sweeps.  Lo and behold!  There it was...the missing pallet jewel.

So, using the technique offered by my wise friends on this forum, the pallet is back in place and the watch is now running!

[grsnovi]

Good job!

[Michael1962]

I got a shellacking from the wife when I started buying things for repairing clocks.

 I bought my lathe/mill. Liz got herself a Thermomix. 

[grsnovi]

I've been warning my wife after doing "husbandly things" that there's likely going to be a delivery tomorrow. So far it's working and she seems open to the fact that I could be starting a new hobby. Hopefully after I get over the initial purchase of basic tools, I'll start working on watches (haven't yet) and I'll be able to see if my bum left eye is going to be a problem.

 

[Paul80]

Only done a couple but I use the shellac  disolved into a thick solution method. No issues so far and much easier than the traditional method.

It's simple enough to do just dissolve shellac in your chosen Alcohol (I am in the UK so have to use Methylated Spirits as the common Ethanol is not available here over the counter) just keep adding your crushed shellac untill the mix resembles a thick varnish. The mix is then added to the fork jewels with an old oiler.

Like I said above only done a couple but they are in daily use and show no signs of failing, so it's worth giving it a go. The mixed solution is kept in a screw top bottle and keeps for years.

I use it in my other hobby, fountain pen restorations and have some I mixed 10 years ago and it's still good.

[VWatchie]

On 2/9/2022 at 3:56 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

OK, I will cleanup the overdose of shellac.  Meanwhile, here is a slo-mo video of the escapement.  Fun stuff!!!

Nice!

May I ask what equipment/software you used to record and upload that slo-mo video? I have an iPhone 8 which can record in slo-mo but it no longer seems possible to upload those slo-mo videos to YT. It feels like I've tried everything but I eventually had to give up. Normal videos aren't any problem. It's the slo-mo videos that are the problem.

Edited March 27, 2022 by VWatchie

[VWatchie]

13 hours ago, grsnovi said:

So far it's working and she seems open to the fact that I could be starting a new hobby.

I've had moments when my wife asked me if I was married to my watches rather than her. Not very pleasant moments, so be a bit careful with the "I'm just going to take care of this little watch problem first" thinking. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by VWatchie

[LittleWatchShop]

2 hours ago, VWatchie said:

Nice!

May I ask what equipment/software you used to record and upload that slo-mo video? I have an iPhone 8 which can record in slo-mo but it no longer seems possible to upload those slo-mo videos to YT. It feels like I've tried everything but I eventually had to give up. Normal videos aren't any problem. It's the slo-mo videos that are the problem.

Samsung Galaxy S21. No special sw.

[LittleWatchShop]

2 hours ago, VWatchie said:

I've had moments when my wife asked me if I was married to my watches rather than her. Not very pleasant moments, so be a bit careful with the "I'm just going to take care of this little watch problem first" thinking. 

I fully expect ebay and paypal will send me a Christmas Turkey in appreciation of my business 

[VWatchie]

5 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I fully expect ebay and paypal will send me a Christmas Turkey in appreciation of my business 

I wouldn't be surprised if buying cheap watches sold for repair or parts and then repair them yourself is way more expensive than buying a Rolex watch. I actively avoid thinking about how much money I've spent on tools, parts, and consumables 

[VWatchie]

On 2/9/2022 at 5:54 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

The horse left the barn.  One pallet took flight to worlds unknown.

That's highly interesting! So, even when "flooded" with shellac a pallet stone came loose? How did you apply the shellac? Did you heat it or dissolve it in alcohol? If alcohol, are you positively sure the shellac had hardened? I personally never, under any circumstances, let alcohol near the pallets (not even for rinsing purposes). If I need to remove the pallets from the fork I use acetone.

[grsnovi]

8 hours ago, VWatchie said:

... so be a bit careful...

Thanks!

My propensity to overdo things is well known: 18 electric guitars? 6 cameras? As they say: "You can only use 1 at a time" At least I've thinned out the pile of guitars.

[Paul80]

19 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I fully expect ebay and paypal will send me a Christmas Turkey in appreciation of my business 

In another of my hobbies I was once spending so much with one supplier that they sent me a bottle of whiskey at Christmas, oops.